WooooHooooo! BSL LOOSES!!!!!!!!

At the Salem City council meeting tonight, the proposed "pitbull" ban was shot down by a vote of 10 to 1. Sweet victory for all of those concerned. The council decided to enforce specific sections in their already existing "Dangerous Dog Laws", perhaps stiffening the fines, to help detract first time offenders from becoming second time offenders.
It was standing room only, clearly opponents of the proposal out numbering those in favor of it. I got to speak, on behalf of the breed, and outlined three sections that I thought they could adjust. When I saw several members taking notes on what I was saying, my confidence level went up, and my knees stopped shaking!!!!(Damn, was I nervous)!!!
Fox news just aired the segment, and a reporter interviewed me off camera, and was kind enough to include some comments.
Anyhow, we won! Thanks to those of you who helped me. I appreciate all the e-mails, P.M.'s, and words of encouragement. And a special thanks to a special member, who helped me rewrite some critical stuff
I'll "cyber" drink with you anytime!!!! (til the wee hours of the morning!!!)
So, thankyou all! I HOPE the rest of the cities and towns will use Salem's judgement tonight, and will also realize, "Man or beast, we are ALL innocent until proven guilty"!

 

Yea theres one for the home team. I'm proud of you!

 

Great job Suki.

 

Thanks!!! I'm on a natural "high" right now, and I wish I could bottle it!!!lol!

 

It was an awesome room, and really the board was made up of AMAZING people who were very opposed to the idea of BSL. I walked into that room expecting a fight, but instead found people open to the idea of holding the owner responsible. It was just amazing.

 

YES!!!!!!!!!!! way to go defeating BSL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! keep up the great work!!

 

I am so happy to hear that. I knew you would just fine. Way to go!!!!!!!

 

keep it going!

 

Congrats Suki! Keep it up!

 

Congratulations!!! A battle won by the good side!

 

PS: Suki's speech ROCKED! The members were definitely taking notes while she was speaking, she brought up specific points in her argument, and didn't appear nervous at all If I had gone up there I probably would have peed myself and then started crying while standing in the puddle. LOL!


And Mia, that little tag on the end of your signature is perfections

 

good job for Salem. seems like there is a slight turn for towns and cities to stop the knee jerk reactions and at least listen to what responsible owners have to say. now we can start sweeping this bsl crap out just like they tried to sweep it in

 

hey, thanks, Sis! That was nice of you so say, tho honestly, I was scared shit!!!!!:eek:
c u today!!!!

 

Suki, you guys are totally awesome and I wish I could have it on video! Bless you for all you do!

 

Congrats Suki! I saw the news last night, at first I was like here we go again, but then at the end I was so happy! Thanks for doing that

 

Here is a copy of the article that was in the "Salem News", today on the second page.




Council rejects pit bull ban (single page view)
(view as multiple pages)
By Ben Casselman </FONT>
Staff writer </FONT>


language=JavaScript type=text/javascript> writePage("SALEM — Blame the owner, not the dog.

That was the message from dozens of dog lovers who packed the City Council chamber last night to argue against a proposed pit bull ban.

"Any dog can be good, any dog can be nasty," said Arthur Freedman, a Salem veterinarian. "It is the owner's responsibility to control his dog."

Councilor-at-large Thomas Furey had proposed the "restriction, limitation or even illegalization" of pit bulls after a Salem resident was injured while defending his dog from a loose pit bull.

But it quickly became clear that Furey was the only councilor supporting what is known as "breed-specific legislation." One after another, councilors stood to oppose a ban and, in many cases, to declare their long histories of dog ownership.

"No dog is dangerous. It's the owners that are dangerous," said Ward 4 Councilor Leonard O'Leary, who owns a soft-coated wheaten terrier.

"Pet ownership is a responsibility," Ward 6 Councilor and Lhasa apso owner Paul Prevey said, "and sometimes people don't step up to the plate. ... If my dog got loose and caused some harm in the community, I would expect to be the one held responsible."

Animal Control Officer Don Famico said the city already has a strong dangerous dog ordinance in place to make sure that happens.

"I think the ordinance has worked very well," he said. "I haven't had any repeat performances."

Famico said he has declared about 18 dogs dangerous since the council passed the ordinance in 1997. Only a couple have been pit bulls.

"I've been through the Doberman hysteria, the Rottweiler hysteria and now the pit bull hysteria," he said. "It can be any breed ... I've even had a dangerous poodle."

Councilors voted down Furey's proposal 10-1 but pledged to consider strengthening the city's dangerous dog ordinance, possibly by increasing fines, and to look into better enforcement.

"There's a lot of good pet owners in this city, and there are a few lousy ones," said Councilor-at-large Joan Lovely, who owns two cairn terriers and a Lab.

The meeting drew a standing-room-only crowd of pit bull owners and lovers, some from as far as Maine and New Hampshire, who applauded nearly every speaker. Councilors said they got calls and e-mails from people in Florida, California and even Canada and received a mountain of data on the ineffectiveness of breed-specific bans.

The only person to speak in favor of a ban other than Furey was Ron Cimon, the man who first contacted Furey about the issue. Cimon said Mack, his English bulldog, was chased by a pit bull; when Cimon grabbed the pit bull to defend his own dog, he was slightly injured.

"If a mother and her child had been there, that child would have been dead," Cimon said.

But Famico said Cimon's dog was illegally off-leash, and one pit bull owner at the meeting said her dog had been chased in the past by Cimon's. And in any case, dog owners argued, one bad dog doesn't represent an entire breed.

"I would never own any other kind of dog," said Salem resident Barry Neely, who owns two pit bulls. "Councilor Furey, you petted my dog before you brought this ordinance forward."

 

Way to go! This is great to hear.

 

In the moment of trues .....you get help from someone abowe you...and he helps you to hold the sharp sword of trues against your enemys....well,thank him!

 

...I ALWAYS do!

 

Great job Suki!!